Episodes
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Authentic Leadership and Why It Matters with Nick Thain
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Today we talk with influential leader Nick Thain. Nick is the Senior Operating Officer for the Community, Rural and Continuing Care Portfolio within the Calgary Zone, at Alberta Health Services. In his 26 year health care career, he has had the opportunity to practice in a variety of settings and system governance models. Nick started his career as a paramedic and has transitioned from a frontline practitioner into a number of leadership roles.
Nick is known for being an authentic, collaborative and inclusive leader and has a passion for team and leadership development. Nick shares his stories about leadership, from how on his first night in a leadership capacity he was responsible for the Pine Lake Tornado site command to his current role as Senior Operating Officer and leading the COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre for Alberta Health Services.
Through everything it has been important to Nick to stay true to his personal leadership statement and to ensure that he is showing up authentically everyday. As he says, "what you see is what you get." He shares his ideas on how you can be authentic even when things are challenging and why this makes the difference for connection and getting things done.
Thursday Jul 23, 2020
Advancing Leadership Education in Medicine with Dr. Nina Ahuja
Thursday Jul 23, 2020
Thursday Jul 23, 2020
After completing her medical degree at McMaster University followed by residency training in ophthalmology at University of Ottawa, Dr. Ahuja began her surgical practice in Hamilton in 2003. Dr. Ahuja has held numerous executive leadership roles at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and is a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders. Dr. Ahuja founded Docs in Leadership to promote and deliver physician-developed leadership curriculum for all health professionals, with best practices relevant to the health system context.
Dr. Nina Ahuja share with us her passion for her work in ophthalmology and the impact she sees on a daily basis. She talks about her experiences with developing physician and healthcare leadership. Specifically, how to enhance health system literacy and emotionally intelligent leadership. She also shares with us how strong leadership influences the care and experience of the patient.
Finally, she tells us about her new book "Stress in Medicine: Lessons Learned Through My Years As A Surgeon, From Med School To Residency, And Beyond" which discusses the role of stress on physician wellbeing through personal stories and experiences. Finally, we close the conversation with Dr. Ahuja offering practical ideas on how to manage stress in healthcare.
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Kindness and Leadership in the Time of COVID-19 with Bonnie Beach
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Today we talk with Bonnie Beach, Director of Nursing Now Canada and COVID-19 Planning Executive Lead for the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of the Government of Canada. With an unconventional path into health service Bonnie brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from her extensive time working abroad.
Bonnie is incredibly passionate about the work she does, and shares her lessons with embracing humility and making sure that all voices are heard. She also highlights how kindness is fundamental to leadership and in connecting people together, particularly in challenging times such as COVID-19. Her thoughts on this are so important for every healthcare leader and she encourages us to be mindful of kindness and to challenge ourselves to be a bit better, everyday.
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
How Involvement in Governance Boosts Leadership Skills with Emily Gruenwoldt
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
Today I sit down with noteworthy healthcare leader Emily Gruenwoldt. Emily is the President & CEO of Children’s Healthcare Canada and Executive Director of the Pediatric Chairs of Canada. Previous to these roles, she spent over ten years with the Canadian Medical Association in various Director-level roles including Professional Affairs, Physician Leadership Development, and Strategy & Innovation. Emily has significant health care governance experience having served two terms as a board member for each of Carefor Home & Health Services and The Ottawa Hospital, and one term at Arnprior Regional Health. She is also co-founder of Emerging Health Leaders.
In 2017, Emily was recognized by the Ottawa Business Journal as a recipient of the Top Forty Under Forty Award. She is also the recipient of the Canadian College of Health Leaders Robert Zed Young Health Leader award (2011).
We talk about her career to date, including the story of the professor who dramatically changed the course of her career. She shares with us her passion for pediatric health, and the work she does to support children and their families navigating the healthcare system. We also talk about the gap Emily saw that led to the creation of Emerging Health Leaders (EHL) and her hopes for the continued success of all the local nodes of EHL. Finally, Emily talks about how she stepped out of her comfort zone early in her career to become involved in healthcare governance and how this experience was the best leadership training she could have ever hoped for.
Thursday Jun 04, 2020
How to Find the Courage to Lead with Carol Gray
Thursday Jun 04, 2020
Thursday Jun 04, 2020
In today's episode host Leah Wuitschik interviews her mother! Carol Gray is an incredibly experienced healthcare leader who has had a career working and leading in a number of unique areas. Hear about her time working as a nurse in a very rural Northern Alberta community, working as a public health nurse, and her leadership in both public/ population health and acute care. She also shares her experiences leading the H1N1 response and the parallels she sees now with COVID19.
Throughout all of this she talks honestly about the incredibly challenging situations which required her to find her courage to go forward. Faced with very vocal opposition over controversial decisions she has had to choose how to move forward and face that opposition. Finally, she shares suggestions as to how healthcare leaders can find their courage and draw on it to do the right thing.
Friday May 22, 2020
Friday May 22, 2020
Hear from Dr. Sandra Davidson, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary, on her thoughts on how leveraging entrepreneurial thinking is so important for making change in nursing and healthcare. As an accomplished academic and professional leader Dr. Davidson brings a unique perspective about how we respond to complexity and challenge in healthcare, dealing with ambiguity, and applying innovation in leadership.
Thursday May 07, 2020
Leadership Lessons from an Emerging Health Leader with Kandice Simser
Thursday May 07, 2020
Thursday May 07, 2020
Today I'm talking with Kandice Simser, Manager of Willow Creek Continuing Care Centre in Claresholm, Alberta. In our open and candid conversation she shares with us the challenges of being an emerging health leader, particularly in a rural environment and during a pandemic. She also shares the worries she has had a newer leader, the sometimes hard lessons she has learned, the scariest moment she experienced in her career, and the support that she draws on to get through the tough times.
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
How Optionality is the Key to Leadership Success with Feisal Keshavjee
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Today I’m sitting down with Feisal Keshavjee, an accomplished health care leader who has worked in all facets of the health care system, including policy, public, private, corporate and early stage. A busy healthcare consultant and current Chair of the Canadian College of Health Leaders, Feisal has worked in both the private and public sector around the world.
In this episode he talks about how having a “personal board of directors” has been key to his leadership journey and how the LEADS Framework can be used a model for the COVID19 response. Additionally, he shares how the concept of optionality supports our ability to lead through change and uncertainty, while at the same time, opening doors for growth and development in leadership and our career.
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
The Path to Influence and Impact with Dr. Eric Wasylenko
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
Today I'm talking with Dr. Eric Wasylenko, a palliative care physician and clinical ethicist from southern Alberta. Currently he is the Medical Director, Health System Ethics & Policy for the Health Quality Council of Alberta, as well as holding appointments as clinical associate professor, division of Palliative Medicine, Department of Oncology, Coming School Medicine, University of Calgary, and clinical lecturer John Doster, Health Ethics Centre at University of Alberta.
In this episode Eric shares his unique path throughout his career and into leadership, experiences dealing with challenging ethical issues, his thoughts on how climbing the ladder may not be the best path to influence, the moments in which he knew he had an impact, and the value of thoughtful transparent communication.
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
The Link Between Resilience and Leadership with Carlene Donnelly
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
Today I'm talking with Carlene Donnelly, Executive Director of CUPS. Carlene has over 25 years experience in the non-profit and social services sector and has dedicated her career to finding ways to create more positive outcomes for individuals and families. She believes that by working together with research and community partners and applying current brain science, people will become healthier and entire communities stronger. Since 1996, Carlene has been involved with numerous advisory and steering communities working with all levels of government on developing strategies, policies & recommendations surrounding the challenge of poverty and trauma for vulnerable citizens.
In this episode Carlene offers her insights into resiliency, from the perspective of an organization, a community, and personally. She shares with us her experiences in growing and developing CUPS into a streamlined organization devoted to comprehensive support for families and individuals dealing with poverty and trauma. She also offers her thoughts on the evolving role of non-profits in the care and support in our community and how strategic leadership is key to that evolution.